The move does not necessarily mean the roster spot will be immediately filled. The organization is concerned over the lingering injury to point guard Sam Cassell, who has missed the last eight games because of a strained left calf, and may seek help at that position.

Patterson was the only Clipper whose salary was not guaranteed. His one-year contract of $770,610 would have become guaranteed on Saturday.

He is coming off a career year for the Milwaukee Bucks, where he averaged career highs in points at 14.7 and rebounds with 4.7.

Patterson, 6-foot-5 and 223 pounds, is considered an undersized forward but an aggressive defender.

He waited deep into the off-season, looking to sign a large free-agent contract, but found the market frigid.

Instead, he signed for the veteran's minimum with the Clippers after forward Elton Brand sustained his Achilles' tendon injury.

Patterson started five of the Clippers 21 games, including the season opener against the Golden State Warriors, when he was charged with the task of defending Warrior point guard Baron Davis.

A lot of observers consider Patterson a quintessential "energy guy" which, for me, has always been a euphemism for "can't really quantify his attributes." That "energy" manifested itself for me most visibly last night when Patterson tried to save the ball under the Charlotte basket...resulting in an easy Bobcat hoop. Examine his astronomical turnover rate of 18.1 and you'll see "energy" all over the data.

Given his absolute lack of offensive skills, you think it would be enough for Patterson to continue his winning formula of scoring without shooting -- namely, picking up garbage every five or so playing minutes for an easy bucket. That's how Patterson became a >.520 FG% shooter in this league. Unfortunately, this season he's been an unbridled basketball playing id. His FG% has dropped to .453. Though he can't hit a FT, he'll insist on working his way to the line on a 2-on-1 break rather than returning the ball to a teammate across the lane who can actually finish.

In any event, the Clippers just became a better basketball team, though one fears for those who might confront Patterson with his newfound free time. Those of you who communicate with a higher power should pray for their safety.

ADDENDUM: Please don't interpret this as anything other than what it is -- a cost-cutting move, and a smart one.

Answer these questions:

[1] Does the presence of Ruben Patterson on the roster help the Clippers achieve their goals for success this season? [2] Does the presence of Ruben Patterson on the roster impede the progress of Al Thornton, a player who plays the same position as Patterson? [3] Is the presence of Ruben Patterson on the roster worth about $575,000?

"Then why did they pick him up in the first place before the season?!"

Why not? Maybe the addition of Ruben Patterson will be the magic bullet that allows the Clippers to hang out in the #8/#9 race until spring. Then Elton comes back, etc, etc. And you know what? If he doesn't add anything, then we can always cut him before December 15. Nothing lost.

Makes sense?

I know these teams are awash in cash, but it's still over half a million dollars -- which buys a lot of legal work.

Posted Wednesday, October 29 at 3:20PM

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our roster is going to be overhauled after this year and with all the contracts we have expiring this summer. when you have a lot of money tied up into a small quantity of players, you need inexpensive, effective role players to fill your team out and that's what frahm will be. frahm getting used to dunleavy's offense and playing off of kaman double-teams this season will prepare him to be effective in meaningful games next year.

with the rise in ticket priceses this season and penny-pinching by waiving ruben before his contracts is guaranteed is a bit disturbing, and i fully expect clippers brass to feel that is absolutely neccessary to make this up to us this summer when it comes time to fork over the cash to sign a free-agent or two. if not, clippers management really doesn't give a shit about us.

Why did they sign this guy, who is of dubious character thereby diminishing the likeability of an otherwise exemplary group (I would submit that is the primary reason for being a Clipper fan - it certainly is for me in contrast to some of the idiots that post here) if they were just going to waive him? He has played exactly like you would expect him to play. This shows me that the Clippers management and anyone associated with bringing this guy in is just plain stupid. Look at all the downside of bringing in this guy and then you waive him?

Dunleavy is truly an idiot.

What, some of you think Thornton should play and develop so that this team might have some hope in the future? Well, nonsense, as that would just take away from Ross's (human pinata) minutes and that just would not be acceptable.

Seems weird ditching Patterson when our only other defensive "stopper" (i.e. Ross) gets injured. I can only imagine he's getting the chop because he seems incapable of finishing around the basket. Patterson was brilliant at getting to the hoop, but he couldn't actually put the ball through it.

If Dunleavy doesn't start playing Thornton more this season (the only way he'll get better), I am ready to give up my seats.

Also, Patterson did have good offensive numbers last year, at least when he was getting playing time. Not sure how much of it was from "garbage," but he had a good fantasy line for a couple months near the end (especially if you ignored the TOs).

I think signing him made sense, after he had a career year at 15 ppg. He had a lot of opportunities and, as KA points out, showed a complete lack of offensive skills. If he could hit free throws it might be a different story. After 20 games, the team has evolved and is building a certain character (too much Tim Thomas) in the midst of all the injuries, while waiting for EB to come back. RP did a few things that other guys couldn't do, but not enough of them. With injuries to Mobley, Maggette, Cassell, and Thornton, he could very easily have stepped in and had a big impact, but he couldn't make a layup or a free throw.

Better for him not to be an option for MD, and for him to stay out of Thornton's way.

Ruben tried but couldn't deliver. His inefectiveness under the basket and lack of jumping ability were truly shocking this year. More PT for Al Thornton is great. Minutes from Aaron Williams and Paul Davis will be better than those we got from Patterson. We need more scoring, our shooting % is atrocious. Defense is key, but we have to score too.

Dunleavy is indeed involved in personnel decisions. I understand that he was personally responsible for Korolev. He talked about him like this was his decision and anyone who questioned it (and there were many at the time) were idiots.

Thus, no one's blaming MDSr, he's admitted it. Since I'm white, I can't be accused of racism by John R for making this post. Or can I . . .

"Andrew wrote:
As for Kaman being an All-Star, it will never happen as long as they let the fans vote more than once. Yao could have the worst stats in the league and his fanbase would still vote him in. "

John R, all I can muster to say is..you should leave the multi-lateral thinking to those that can comprehend it.

That, and I too wish I still had the power more rather innocense to believe everything in front of my face, and percieve it as actual reality. You keep believing buddy, but perhaps you should also be trading your xmas wishes for santa with your intellectual peers this time of year, bro.

Ruben asked for more playing time. That's big NO to any Coach. That's the primary reason for his departure. He might end up in Dallas or Phoenix. He got the offer first from one of those teams & then demanded more playing time just to annoy MDSr.

Clippers won't miss him because ever since they reduced his minutes, losing games became much easier.

Ruben is not Kevin Durant. Criticizing his shooting ability is a joke. He's productive & gives his best effort everytime he's on the floor. Clippers didn't sign him for his scoring potential.

ACD, funny you should say that. I had that very conversation with the director of season ticket sales, and the Clips basically don't care what we the customers think. I left the conversation with the notion that they are behind MD no matter how much he fucks up, could really care less about the product on the floor, and it sure shows. Almost none of the hard core fans, the ones that used to go to every damn game, don't bother to show up anymore. The way I figure, they don't care and neither should we.

Nice addendum. When they first brought in Patterson, I grimaced at the thought. When he got cut, there came a vague sense of dissapointment, but those 3 questions certainly clarify how necessary he was to the team (not very). That last line about legal work: LOL.

Is this team cursed? On paper, this is a very good team if everyone is healthy.
On another note, why does the Clippers make so many careless mistakes, and shoot bad shots (Mobley is a ball hog!!! Stop shooting if your having a bad game!!!I hate you!!!AHHHHH!!!!!)? They should be better than this since they are the 3rd oldest team in the league.
Man oh man, this team makes you taste a lil bit of victory and gives you hope(05-06 season) only to put you back down again.